Jan 20, 2026 | staff reporterSave for later
NEW YORK — UK nonprofit research organization LifeArc said on Monday that it has partnered with the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation (GAP) to evaluate a blood-based test for Alzheimer’s disease.
The test is designed to detect three proteins — phosphorylated tau 217, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and neurofilament light polypeptide — in dried blood spots obtained from a finger prick.
As part of GAP’s ongoing Bio-Hermes-002 study of Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers, LifeArc will help examine how well the test compares with other diagnostic approaches, including ones based on newly identified blood and digital biomarkers, as well as gold standard PET and MRI scans. The UK Dementia Research Institute, through its Biomarker Factory, is also partnering on the study.
LifeArc said that GAP has already enrolled nearly 900 of the target 1,000 participants for the study, with 360 having already completed the blood test. The study, which is recruiting participants from the UK, US, and Canada, is expected to wrap up in 2028.
“Over the last five years, there has been substantial progress in identifying blood-based biomarkers to identify people at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease before their symptoms present,” Giovanna Lalli, director of strategy and operations at LifeArc, said in a statement. “Developing cheaper, scalable and more accessible tests is vital in the battle against this devastating condition.”
Earlier this month, GAP announced that Alamar Biosciences had signed on as a collaborator for the Bio-Hermes-002 study.